


jasmine, taro, and chlorine

by jungw00z



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Coming of Age, Light Angst, M/M, Mutual Pining, Na Jaemin is Whipped, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Oblivious Mark Lee (NCT), Yearning, mark is a senior and they're both scared for what happens after high school
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-08
Updated: 2020-12-08
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:54:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27953459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jungw00z/pseuds/jungw00z
Summary: to jaemin, the thought of being without mark was absolutely terrifying. mark was a steady force in his life, a constant reassurance that he never had to think twice about because he was always just there. the mere idea of not having mark by his side made his chest tighten and cause something to bubble inside him, threatening to spill over if he thought about it too hard. for now though, he was just going to spend the rest of the night looking at mark, hoping that maybe if he memorized every inch of him it would be like he wasn’t really leaving.
Relationships: Mark Lee/Na Jaemin
Kudos: 16





	jasmine, taro, and chlorine

**Author's Note:**

> had this sitting in my drafts since march and i finally decided to post it! this is entirely un-beta'd so sorry for any mistakes in advance, but i hope yall enjoy !!

the warm embrace of a calm summer night had just begun to fall over the rooftops outside the windows when mark’s phone started to buzz. he paused his netflix show and picked up his phone from where it had been charging on his nightstand to read: INCOMING CALL FROM ‘jaemin <3’. he picked it up without a second thought and said “hey jaem, what’s up?”

“are you busy right now?” jaemin asked.

“just on my 5th watch thru of great british bake-off, nothing super important.” he paused, sensing the reason for this phone call. “why? you wanna go do something?” he eventually replied, knowing jaemin well enough to figure he was calling to go on a late-night boba run, as they had done most days for the past month since school had gotten out.

“please can we? i feel like i’m gonna lose it if i have to listen to my mom nagging me to come watch dramas with her for the rest of the night” jaemin breathed out in a rush. 

mark knew that he must really have been in need of an outing as it had been a few days since they had last hung out, so he said, “i’ll be at your place in ten, see you in a bit” before hanging up and jumping out of bed to grab his keys.

mark picked him up exactly ten minutes later, rushing a little faster than he should have to their favorite boba place, making it just 10 minutes before closing. mark ordered a taro milk tea and jaemin a taro smoothie, the cashier laughing when they placed their order as she already had it ready to ring up as soon as they walked in. “you two must really like taro or each other or something” the cashier said with a smile on her face when mark handed her his card.

mark, caught off guard, stuttered out a laugh and awkwardly scratched the back of his head, not sure how to respond to her, before choking out a flustered “yeah uh something like that”. he didn’t seem to notice the look that jaemin gave him, too caught up in his own crisis to recognize the flash of emotion that went across jaemin’s face.

\---

as soon as their drinks were ready, they headed to a spot that could only be described as their own. not too far from their homes, there were hills full of places to look over the city below them, and one particular such place had been their go-to for several years now. as they sat there watching the night fade into stillness below them, mark was reminded of the years that stretched forward in front of them and how uncertain they were. he thought of the boy sitting next to him, his best friend, who he had never been apart from for more than a few days. when he thought about the future, about possibly being away from the boy who could make flowers bloom with his laugh, who had always felt like home with hugs that soothed and smelled faintly of jasmine, a tightness bloomed in mark’s chest. it felt like a vice, threatening to turn into something more, something far too big to name. 

through the cloud of mark’s thoughts, however, came the gentle nudge of jaemin’s shoulder on his own. mark turned to look at him, slightly disoriented from being pulled from his thoughts, but still giving him a quiet “what’s up?”

“do you think you’ll move away when you graduate?” jaemin asked him, catching mark by surprise. 

after a pause, he said with all the honesty in his heart, “i don’t know… maybe?”

jaemin turned to him, a hint of laughter in his voice and replied, “maybe? that’s all you got?”

“i mean, yeah, i don’t even really know where i’m applying so who knows where i’ll end up, ya know?” mark sighed. the thought of applying to college terrified him, and it didn’t help that every day, he had his parents asking him if he had made a list and started his essays and signed up for tests and looked at scheduling tours and it all just felt like it was too much. just the idea of it all made something bubble up in him that he couldn’t quite name, new and unsure, exciting yet terrifying all at once. the possibilities that lay ahead of him felt too expansive, too limitless to really consider without needing to lie face down on the ground and just stop thinking for a moment. all of that to say, mark had no idea what he was going to do with his life and quite frankly, thinking about it for more than 5 minutes was absolutely terrifying. 

“what about you?” mark asked back. “do you have any clue what you’re gonna do with your life after high school?”

“uh no, of course not” jaemin snorted. “i haven't even started junior year and i barely know what i’m gonna be doing next week, let alone in two years.”

“ok fine, fair enough” mark replied, taking a sip from his practically empty boba cup. the sound of air rushing through the straw reminded him that he had long since finished his drink, as they had been sitting on the hood of his car for quite some time.

he was about to open his mouth to ask if jaemin wanted to go home when the other boy asked, “wanna play never have i ever?”

mark choked out a laugh and replied, a bit flustered, “dude, what are we, 12? why do you want to play that?” he was thankful for the dark of night that was hiding the blush slowly spreading across his cheeks, the product of high school years spent studying and writing music rather than spending time engaging in more adventurous past-times like his friends. however, any sense of embarrassment went out the window as soon as jaemin threw him some puppy dog eyes. mark never had been particularly good at saying no to jaemin. 

after a few warm-up questions (“have you ever skipped class?” “um no you know that” “yeah cuz you’re a square”), jaemin hit mark with a question he didn’t expect: “have you ever been to a public pool at night?”

mark laughed for a second before realizing that, wait, “oh you’re serious?”

“dead serious” jaemin replied.

“um well no i haven’t cuz like.. why would i?” mark mumbled, secretly hoping jaemin wouldn’t think he was lame for saying no. that was, quite frankly, ridiculous considering the fact that jaemin had always looked at mark like he had hung the moon for as long as they had been friends. mark, however, remained entirely oblivious to that fact.

before mark could think about it for too long, jaemin replied simply “cuz its fun, duh! and it’s not like it’s hard either. no one bothers to have security at a public pool”

“wait what, so you have??” mark asked incredulously, mostly shocked that jaemin had done things that he didn’t know about. after all, they did everything together. at least everything they could when mark wasn’t busy with his nose in a book, which was more often than not.

“i mean, once yeah… it was that night i was at jungwoo’s and him, johnny, and doyoung were all gonna go do it and i didn’t wanna be left alone so i just went with them” he replied, as if that were the most obvious answer in the world.

“oh okay” mark replied, somewhat softly. he hadn’t gone with jaemin that night to jungwoo’s because he had been studying for a history test that was two weeks away, but he didn’t know that he had missed out on anything like that. part of him wanted to be upset that jaemin had had a teen movie montage moment without him but of course, mark could never find it in himself to be actually mad at jaemin.

after a moment of them sitting in silence, jaemin spoke up, turning to face mark. “do you… want to?”

“do i want to what?” mark asked, a bit confused.

“go swimming”

“um….”

\---

“jaemin are you sure we should be doing this?” mark said, trying his hardest to keep his voice down. 

jaemin laughed from where he was trying to scope out the best place to climb the fence that was in front of them. “come on mark, you’re a senior in high school and you’ve never even climbed a fence to get to somewhere you definitely shouldn’t be. this is an important rite of passage!” he exclaimed, quite loudly for the late hour. 

“shhhhh!” mark said frantically while looking around, worried that jaemin’s proclamation had attracted attention. thankfully, all of the houses nearby remained dark and silent, their occupants most likely fast asleep considering it was almost three in the morning. exasperated, mark retorted, “and what exactly about breaking into a public pool is so essential to my experience as a high schooler?”

“oh you know,” jaemin said, waving his arms from the top of the fence he had somehow managed to scale when mark wasn’t looking. “something about only living once or whatever.” he shrugged and continued, “nah i dunno but in any case you better get up here before the sun starts rising or something.”

hesitantly approaching the fence, mark almost whispered, “we could get arrested for this.”

jaemin laughed, the sound as clear as a bell, before replying, “well that’s half the fun, isn’t it?”

mark slowly climbed the fence until he reached the top where jaemin was waiting for him and said, “and what’s the other half?”

jaemin smiled softly and said, “getting to spend quality time with my best friend in the whole wide world before he leaves me for college, of course.” and with that declaration, mark was entirely sold, suddenly much more prepared to do what jaemin was asking of him.

ten minutes later, they were sitting next to each other on the edge of the water, jaemin having convinced mark that putting his legs in the water wouldn’t hurt anything. a comfortable silence stretched over the two, with mark staring up at the sky trying to name as many constellations as he could see and jaemin quietly kicking his legs back and forth, watching the ripples on the surface of the water. after a while, jaemin looked over, wanting to say something, but the words died in his mouth as soon as he took in the sight of mark looking focused on the stars above them. ever since they were little, mark had been fascinated with stars and space, always making sure to point out every constellation in the sky that he had somehow managed to memorize. even though he rarely talked about it anymore, jaemin knew that there was still a part of him that liked to lose himself in the night sky. sometimes, when the nights felt endless as they sat in mark’s car when neither of them wanted to be home, jaemin would catch himself wondering if the stars had managed to make their way into mark’s eyes from all the time he spent looking at them.

time seemed to slow as they sat there, mark staring at the sky and jaemin staring at mark. in moments like these, jaemin was reminded of just how much he was going to miss his best friend. ever since they had been introduced to each other by renjun when jeno was in seventh grade and mark in eighth, they had been practically inseparable to the point that even their friends referred to them as “mark&jaemin”. after a few years it became common knowledge whenever their friends made plans, if mark was invited then jaemin was too because they were rarely seen without each other. to jaemin, the thought of being without mark was absolutely terrifying. mark was a steady force in his life, a constant reassurance that he never had to think twice about because he was always just there. the mere idea of not having mark by his side made his chest tighten and cause something to bubble inside him, threatening to spill over if he thought about it too hard. for now though, he was just going to spend the rest of the night looking at mark, hoping that maybe if he memorized every inch of him it would be like he wasn’t really leaving.

“hey jaemin,” came mark’s voice, pulling jaemin from his thoughts and making him acutely aware that he had been staring at mark for quite some time. “do you think we’ll stay friends?” he continued. 

this distracted jaemin from the mess of emotions he was feeling, pausing for a moment before answering with a soft “of course we will”. he paused for another moment before practically whispering, “we will right?”

sensing his friend’s worry, mark quickly scooted over so that their legs were touching and gently put his arm around jaemin’s shoulder, mumbling a quiet “i know we will, jaem”.

eventually, after what seemed like an eternity of them sitting on the edge of the pool together in a comfortable silence, the two of them started to feel the tendrils of sleep lapping at the edges of their minds so they decided to head back to mark’s car and go home. as mark drove towards jaemin’s house with a practiced ease, jaemin sat quietly in the passenger seat next to mark, trying his best to stay awake but still drifting in and out of sleep. whenever he could, mark snuck glances over at him, hoping to meet his gaze for a moment and somehow convey the mess of emotions he was currently experiencing. something about the way jaemin had looked at him while he thought mark wasn’t paying attention as they had sat side by side with their legs dangling in the water had brought back that tight feeling in his chest and for some reason mark deeply needed jaemin to understand what was happening, a part of him knowing that he wouldn’t need words to explain himself. as he silently wished for jaemin to meet his eyes, he turned the corner and came to the curb outside of jaemin’s house. sighing, mark parked, and reached over to gently shake jaemin awake. 

“jaem, we’re here” he said softly. as jaemin blinked his eyes open, the feeling in mark’s chest got stronger, knocking all the air out of his lungs and cause him to ache for something that he couldn’t name. still shaking the sleep from his body, jaemin sat up, unbuckled his seatbelt, and went to open his door. 

before getting out, he turned back to look at mark and practically whispered, “thanks, mark.”  
in that moment, mark knew that jaemin wasn’t just thanking him for that night. there was much more that jaemin was trying to say with those two words and mark understood. jaemin gave him a soft smile before getting out, closing the door behind him. mark waited, making sure he made it back inside, before pulling away from the curb and driving home.

when he arrived at his house less than fifteen minutes later, the tightness in his chest still hadn’t subsided. mark looked at the passenger seat where jaemin had just been, his heart full of something he still couldn’t quite name, before sighing, turning off the car, and going inside. he quietly walked through the house, stopping momentarily in the kitchen to get a glass of water and bringing it with him to his room. mark quickly changed into pajamas, consisting of an old math club tshirt and sweatpants that at one point were jaemin’s, before downing the glass of water and taking off his glasses, putting them on his nightstand. as mark crawled into bed and pulled the covers close around him, he thought he smelled a hint of jasmine. with the beginnings of morning streaming through his open window, mark fell asleep to thoughts of a brown haired boy and taro and chlorine.


End file.
